Children's Home run by Treehouse Educare Limited in West Sussex

Inspection report children’s home: 1241023 1 Registered provider: Treehouse Educare Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is operated by an organisation which also operates a registered school on the same site. The inspector only inspected the social care provision during this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home provides care for up to eight children with learning disabilities. The organisation specialises in care and education for children with autism. The residential care is provided across two separate houses on the site. Children can live at the home full time, or they may stay during term time only or for short breaks.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in December 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19, at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 4 September 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1241023 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/09/2019 Full Good 21/03/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 04/09/2018 Full Good 21/03/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: 1241023 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a warm and friendly atmosphere at the home. Children make good progress across all aspects of their lives. Staff successfully encourage and support children to meet their individual targets and goals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress educationally. All children attend the on-site school. Education staff and residential staff work together effectively. This ensures that children attend regularly and are supported with their learning and personal development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children take part in a good variety of activities. Their talents and interests are encouraged. Some children attend guitar and singing lessons. Children make new friends through attending a youth club. Children experience trips to the seaside and local farms. They have fun at the home by dressing up and having parties to celebrate special occasions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children maintain relationships with their family and those important to them. One family member said, ‘I think the care and support is phenomenal.’ Staff ensure that any health needs are met. One child now tries new foods, which is good for their dietary needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children successfully learn life skills. These include completing laundry and cleaning their rooms. Mealtimes are joyous events where everyone helps out to prepare food, lay the table and clear away. Children and staff eat together and chat comfortably about their day.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to learn about social topics such as understanding about changes to their bodies and sex education. This was a previous recommendation and is met. Staff spend focused time with children individually on a regular basis. These sessions cover a good range of topics such as budgeting, strategies around anxiety, and healthy eating. These meetings help to build strong bonds between the children and staff.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff know what to do if they have a concern about a child’s welfare. They receive training in safeguarding topics, such as online safety and managing allegations. This ensures that children are cared for by staff who know how to keep them safe.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff understand the individual risks for each child. There are good risk management plans in place. These clearly identify strategies for staff to follow in order to reduce risk. Inspection report children’s home: 1241023 4 Children identify adults who they would speak to if they were worried. Staff respond quickly to any negativity that may happen towards someone else at the home, although this is rare. This means that children live in an inclusive environment, where diversity is celebrated. Children’s views are heard through weekly meetings where they pick activities and meals, speak openly about their feelings and share any concerns they may have.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Sanctions are rarely used. Children respond well to the incentive reward scheme in place. This encourages children to work towards their personal goals. There has been no use of physical restraint in the home since 2020. This is achieved through the positive relationships that exist between the children and the staff.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

During the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, staff worked hard to help children understand what was happening and to keep them safe. One child said, ‘The staff have kept me entertained during lockdown, such as taking me for drives or walks.’ Another child said that during the pandemic, the staff ‘talked to me a lot and helped calm me down’.

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good

Since the previous inspection, a new manager has been registered with Ofsted. Staff feel supported by the manager and receive regular supervision. Staff spoke overwhelmingly positively about working in the home. One staff member said, ‘I love my job because everyone shares the same vision and is dedicated to the mission.’

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good

The statement of purpose outlines the organisation’s aims and ethos. It describes children being cared for across two houses. During the inspection, it was found that children had stopped staying in one of the houses on site two years ago. Since then, the property has not been maintained to a good standard. The organisation took immediate action to remove this house from their registration.

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good

In the house that remains in use, one bedroom is currently being used to store household items. This makes it unsuitable for children to use. Therefore, the home is not operating in line with the statement of purpose.

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good

External monitoring visits take place on a monthly basis. The independent visitor has announced their visits for the past year. Additionally, there is limited feedback gathered directly from children, staff members, professionals or family members. This is not a rigorous approach to reviewing the quality of care and hinders the manager’s ability to learn from independent feedback resulting from unannounced visits.

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good

Children’s bedrooms are well presented and personalised to each child. Any urgent repairs in the house are carried out quickly, which ensures children’s safety. However, the kitchen in the operational house is not of a good enough standard. The kitchen was identified for refurbishment in 2020, but this has not yet been completed. Additionally, some further medium- to longer-term maintenance matters Inspection report children’s home: 1241023 5 have not been resolved or escalated by the manager. This compromises the environment that children are in.

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good

Since the previous inspection there have been two serious events which were not notified to Ofsted in line with regulations. This failure to notify means that Ofsted was unable to have appropriate oversight of actions taken following these incidents.

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good

Management monitoring systems have improved since the previous inspection. However, they are not yet wholly effective. For example, the management oversight of fridge temperature checks had not identified a problem with one fridge. This was addressed during the inspection. This requirement is repeated.

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good

A previous recommendation which related to the quality of children’s records has been met. Children’s experiences are well documented through words, photos and detailed progress reports.

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good

Staff benefit from varied and relevant learning opportunities, such as training in the mental well-being of children and medication administration. This means that children are cared for by staff who have the right skills to meet each child’s needs. This was a previous recommendation and is met. Inspection report children’s home: 1241023 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must ensure that the home is at all times conducted in a manner which is consistent with its statement of purpose. (Regulation 16 (5)) 3 April 2022

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

(a) helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 3 April 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(e)) 3 April 2022

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires.

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Requirement Due date

A visit by the independent person to the home may be unannounced. (Regulation 44 (2)(a) (3)) 3 April 2022 Inspection report children’s home: 1241023 7 The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i)(ii)) 1 May 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that good food hygiene standards are consistently maintained and that action is taken promptly if there are indicators that a fridge may not be functioning correctly. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. Inspection report children’s home: 1241023 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Treehouse Educare Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Boldings Brook, Dorking Road, Warnham, Horsham RH12 3RZ

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Inspector

Anna Williams, Social Care Compliance Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1241023 9 to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after , safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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